Sabien Kroll is a master thief who has fallen for the wrong woman. He also gets in over his head when he steals an artifact from an alien race bent on destroying all other races. Now he has to somehow stay alive long enough to convince the good guys that he is on their side for a change.

Hillia Ryjil is a Universal Peacekeeper who is opposed to everything that Sabien stands for. Despite this, she finds herself strangely attracted to him. When they are forced to work together, she struggles between her attraction and her duties as a Peacekeeper.

Sabien and Hillia find themselves part of a larger group responsible for saving the world as the stories of eight characters are woven together. The stories of these eight people proceed in parallel before coming together in a dramatic finale with the fate of humanity in the balance.

Despite the scope and sweep of the novel, I did not care for On the Fringes. To me the story seemed to be a watered down mix of Science Fiction and Romance, with not enough of either to interest me. The characters are bland and interchangeable, and for most of the story it isn't clear how they relate to each other. The plotline resorts to mysticism as a way to tie them together but it just ends up feeling weak and doesn't really make sense. The novel is littered with made-up slang that successfully avoids profanity but also manages to sound fake and awkward. There are also a number of phrases that are made into acronyms almost randomly. Only one of these acronyms is used more than once, which seems a little ridiculous considering that more effort is spent explaining the acronyms than is saved by using them. Overall, as a reader of both science fiction and romance I was disappointed on both fronts.

Alex
Reviewer for Coffee Time Romance
Reviewer for Karen Find Out About New Books